Article: ODE physics in FTE

As requested by user nil, spawnhost now has a blurb about making physics objects in FTE using the Open Dynamics Engine. I believe this was originally a Darkplaces extension, so much of it should apply to both game engines.

Be warned that this is no cakewalk. The article is intended for advanced QC programmers and game devs. Not everything is spelled out in detail for simple lack of time, and it has “RTFM” in it.

SJ’s gameplay is based in exploration. While you explore places, you’ll find many interesting things you can interact with or use. It should be possible to avoid a lot of the combat. But there is combat, too, and you can tilt the odds in your favour by using traps, choosing the battlefield, using the terrain, and using Scout’s special skills, many of which are combat relevant. It will be possible to manipulate enemies directly and cause infighting among other things.

It is neither a dedicated stealth game nor a twitch shooter, although it does have quite a few weapons.

The layout of the environments makes it so you can create ambushes or just evade enemy patrols etc.

However, enemies == loot. And loot is crucial to survive and even to beat the game. You’ll have to scavenge and sometimes to go on the attack in order to survive. But you can prepare ahead of time.

You will also be able to go back and forth between levels to find more loot and enemies. Only the start and the end of the game are linear, the midgame is nonlinear.

So it depends on your playstyle and decisions how much of a shooter it becomes.